Progress: February 22

At this meeting we primarily shared our progress of the task groups and we made plans for next steps.

Of note from the task groups:

We carefully reviewed what is our responsibility for raising up the new Grants Committee and what needs to be given to the Administrative Council to do. After careful discussion and listening, we determined that we would move forward with setting the committee in motion. However, we will not appoint the permanent members of the committee. We will appoint interim members until such a point as the Administrative Council is on its feet and can name the members themselves. We will give the names of the interim members to the Nominating Committee for review because Nominating has the authority for apointing the council members who will then, evenutally, appoint the Grants Committee members.

We heard from the Continuing Sessions group that it is planning to recommend dates for the two sessions to us and they are looking for locations. The first session will be in the fall. The task group is looking into retirement communities and educational facilities outside Philadelphia as a possible location for the event. The spring session will be at the end of March at Arch Street Meeting House.

The communications task group is thinking about a story for PYM Today and about how to communicate on our website.

The nominating task group asked all Implementation Committee members to begin thinking now about who might fill the additional seven seats in on the Nominating Committee. We were asked particularly to think about Friends who are younger and Friends of color who know other people in their quarter. It is important to have every kind of diversity on Nominating Committee so that those recommending names for roles will be looking through a diverse set of eyes.

The Arch Street task group reported to the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust that Implementation Committee has prioritized supporting a smooth transition with them. We heard a report that a member of the Trust who is also a member of the Standing Committee reported this plan to the Standing Committee members and responded to questions of theirs.

Our last business was to plan next steps. We want the councils to have a good, clear roadmap of their scope, resources and tasks when they are formed. As a primary step in giving structural support to the councils, we are writing job descriptions for the members of the two councils. We will continue this work over two conference calls in the next two weeks.

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About Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is a Quaker faith community, an association of 103 Quaker meetings, and an organization - all working together to nurture Quaker faith and practice in today’s world.

Quakerism is a faith of personal experience and direct communion with God, a faith of continuing revelation; and a faith of living our values in the secular world. All who seek to deepen their spiritual lives are welcome!